SOCIAL

Kenya bishop says gays are worse than terrorists

Kenya Bishop Julius Kalu says gays are worse than terrorists and calls for Christians to be ever vigilant.

The Mombasa Anglican Church leader labelled gays and lesbians as the ‘enemies of faith’ which the church is at war with, reported the LGBT portal Identity Kenya.

During a Sunday service yesterday (22 July), he told his congregation: ‘Our greatest fear as a church should not be the grenade attacks, but the new teachings like same-sex marriages.’

In April, a grenade attack on Christians killed one worshipper in Mombasa and armed men massacred 17 people in attacks on local churches on 1 July.

Bishop Julius Kalu further stated that gays and lesbians are evil and a greater threat to the church than terrorism.

The congregation of Mombasa Memorial Cathedral, where the Bishop held the sermon, included Mutava Musyimi MP and was urged to be ‘spiritually fully armed’ to confront these ‘evil enemies’.

The bishop said during the sermon that ‘the congregation does not close eyes in prayer for fear of grenade attacks,’ but should be more worried about the new liberal teachings allowing same sex marriages.

Kalu alleged the gay movement has popularized a new moral logic that is threatening to ‘cripple’ the Church by introducing ‘unacceptable teachings’ in the name of freedom of worship and association and asked Christians to stand up against the ‘unholy wave’.

He called for prayers and vigilance to fight against those ‘enemies who wanted to change the Christian doctrine.’

‘The Church is at war with enemies of the faith’, he concluded.

The Bishop has been at the forefront of condemning homosexuality in Kenya.

Two months ago, he and Muslim clerics condemned an appeal by the Kenya National Human Rights Commission to legalize homosexuality in the country terming it as ‘unconstitutional and unholy.’

Reverend Colin Coward from the Anglican pro-gay rights initiative Changing Attitude Ministry said that previously the bishop was more flexible and described him as ‘open to listening’ to the issue of homosexuality in the Anglican Church.

The Bishop even proposed a seminar about LGBT issues provided the Changing Attitude Ministry could make a ‘financial contribution’.

He said: ‘Being an election year, his statements will further make the public view the LGBT community as a threat.

‘Additionally, they show that our religious leaders still simmer with homophobia. More worrying, however, is that a bishop of his stature and authority can say that killing people is better off than what two consenting adults do in their own privacy, it is the height of folly.

‘Terrorists kill, wound, rape and mutilate people; so far the worst causalities have been churches in Kenya (latest was in Garissa, North Eastern) and to claim that is better than homosexuality, is shocking, deplorable, unfounded and downright shameful for such a person.

‘There have been previous incidents of anti-gay riots organized by people of faith in Kenya. I am worried that this is the start of something new. Since this is an election year and emotions are running high it is easy to garner political clout by scapegoating minority groups and/or organizations.

‘We, Kenya’s LGBT community, should be on the lookout for any signs of such homophobic rhetoric and come up with measures to protect ourselves.’